Desert Cobra
by itsnanibabeex3
Summary: Gerudo Captain Naniarii's life is her own, and no one else's.
1. Chapter 1

**"Naniarii..."**

The Gerudo captain stood up slowly. She forced her golden eyes into the deep yellows of her King.

"Yes?" She hissed between her teeth. Ganondorf smirked.

"I assume Nazira's completed her training this year...?"

Naniarii fought the urge to spit into his lined, olive skinned face. How dare he bring her sister's name through his rotten lips?

"Yes..."

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Naniarii."

Naniarii forced her eyes back into his once again. He was leering.

"Bring Nazira to me at once."

And she exploded.

"Fuck you!" The Gerudo captain hissed into Ganondorf's face. "As if I'd let you touch my sister...You're not worth the sand under a desert rat's remains.."

"You mean...the remains of this desert rat?"

"What are you-"

Slap.

Naniarii hit the ground, throwing a palm up to her cheek in surprise.

"You-"

"Stand up." The King whispered. He turned to a guard on his right. "Call Nazira to me... and as for you... you shall be hanged as soon as the celebration feast is over. See to her imprisonment," he addressed the two guards to his left.

They hesitated- Naniarii had trained them herself, years ago.

"Now." The King's words were like ice.

The two guards silently escorted a non-resistant Captain to the dungeons.

"Who is he to touch my sister?" Naniarii kicked a rock with her chained foot. "I'll be damned if he gets away with the shit he does to us.."

"Don't even bother," said one of the guards outside of the dungeon. "We've tried everything. We're no match for him. Just do what he says next time."

"Next time?" cried the other guard, who'd been fighting back tears. "He's going to have her hanged, Judana!"

"He's bluffing," said the other guard, sounding unsure. Naniarii rolled her eyes.

"The feast.." Judana sighed. Naniarii waved them away.

"Go ahead, enjoy yourselves. Don't worry about me."

The two guards nodded insecurely and walked away.

Naniarii rested her back against the stone wall of the cell.

What now...?


	2. Chapter 2

**"What do you think will happen?"**

Judana sighed as she washed the plates of the feast. Nura shrugged.

"No one can escape her fate once he's decided it.."

"What if we-"

"Forget it, Judana."

The rest of the Gerudo gathered around a fire outside solemnly as their king paced the inner chambers of the fortress, waiting on a few guards to set up a noose to hang the insolent little Gerudo Captain. She wouldn't get away with disrespecting him.

He gave no second chances.

Naniarii rolled her eyes as she heard the dungeon doors open and close. Judana kept sticking her head in to throw Naniarii a pitiful look every now and then. The Captain didn't appreciate it.

Then it hit her.

Her earring. Her solid gold earring.

Naniarii pulled the jewelry from her slightly pointed ear and used it to easily pick the lock of the dungeon. She shook her head in embarrassement as she swung the door open.

The mighty Gerudos' prison cell could be picked open with a simple piece of gold.. Geez..

The Captain jumped from building top to building top, trying to avoid being seen by her sisters... and especially by the King.

"Where the hell do I go from here?" Naniarii puffed as she eyed the noose way below.

She took a great leap from one of the low building tops over to the stairs leading down to the exit of the fortress. Biting her lip from the pain of the landing, she quickly regained her posture and began to creep down the steps.

"Nani?"

Naniarii might have jumped about 6 feet into the air as her friend Lavanya stood at the bottom of the steps, looking at her with wide yellow eyes.

"Shh..." Naniarii looked desperate as she raised a finger to the younger Gerudo's lips.

"I'm getting out of here. Take care of Shaheed. Don't tell a soul. You never saw me."

"But-"

"Please, Lav, please?"

The younger guard sighed and nodded. Shaheed was Naniarii's four year old son, who'd been concieved as a result of Ganondorf's brutal punishment to Naniarii.

"Thank you..." Naniarii kissed Lavanya's cheek as she snuck out of the fortress and mounted her dusky black horse, Shadow, and rode quietly out into Hyrule Field.

"Where is she?!"

Judana and Nura shook in fear as their King slammed his large fist into the wall.

"M-my King, I swear, she was just-"

"Did you help her escape? Did you betray your King?!" he roared.

Judana and Nura stood bone still in fear. Ganondorf turned around dangerously.

"Find her."


	3. Chapter 3

**"Naniarii?"**

"What now?" Naniarii groaned as she heard a horse's galloping and a voice calling out to her not far away.

"Wait, wait!"

"No time for that!" Naniarii tapped her heels into Shadow's body and quickened the horse's speed, heading for who-knows-where.

The rider sped up, until he was ahead of her, and cut her off with his beast of burden.

"I'm in a little bit of a hurry," spat the Gerudo captain, narrowing her eyes at the hooded figure.

"I came to warn you.. I was on my regular kingdom watch when I heard Ganondorf scream your name from the desert."

"That's kinda why I'm...wait," Naniarii raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, anyway?"

The rider threw off the hood to reveal his ash-white hair and ruby red eyes.

"Oh... Faerix..my bad," Naniarii sighed. "I know.. I really need to get out of here.."

The Sheikah man pointed toward Kakariko Village.

"Behind the windmill is a large fence. Beyond that fence is the border between Hyrule and Dracona. Pass through Dracona silently, and in disguise. They don't take kindly to your kind, anymore than the Hylians do."

"Thank you, Faerix. You never saw me."

"Understood. Good luck, Nani."

xxxxx

"Kira..."

"Faerix!" the Gerudo guard rushed to hug her husband.

"Naniarii-"

"I know, Lavanya told me.. Only me," the Gerudo added as her Sheikah lover's eyes flashed.

"She's heading for Dracona, she should be beyond their borders into the unknown territory by sun-up," Faerix whispered as he helped his wife onto his horse. He was taking her to Lon Lon Ranch, away from the King's fury.

"Wait with my sister in law until things calm down," he said, referring to Malon, the wife of his brother Sheik. Kira nodded. "And the children?"

"They're in the village, with Impa."

"Alright.."

Faerix led the horse into Lon Lon Ranch, where a nightgown-clad Malon was just about to enter her wooden home.

"Faerix...Kira?"

"Kira will explain," Faerix whispered as he lifted his wife off the horse.

"I'm going to watch the borders... to make sure Naniarii gets out safely."

Kira nodded as Malon threw her hands up in confusion.

"Goodnight." Faerix took off into the field quietly.

xxxxxx

Naniarii kissed her stallion goodbye as she dismounted him and entered Kakariko Village, draping a deep purple cloak over her body and head. She discreetly made her way up the ladder behind the Potion Shop, and to the fence behind the windmill.

She took a long look at the sleeping village before slipping one of her feet into the holes of the fence.

"Goodbye, Hyrule..for now."

xxxxxx

"He's going to catch her.. he's going to catch her.."

Lavanya paced her room as she shook with worry over the beloved military commander.

"He's going to catch her, and she'll be done, and there will be chaos, oh, Divine One.."

"Lav?"

A flash of firelight filled the room as Judana entered, looking at Lavanya questioningly.

"Judana," Lavanya gasped. Judana nodded.

"I know. Whatever you do, don't. tell. the. king."

"Of course not," Lavanya whispered. Judana nodded again.

"There's not much we can do. He's taking each one of us into questioning. Don't mention her at all. You don't know. Got it?"

"Got it."

xxxxxxx

Naniarii shivered as she walked across the flat plain between two dense forests. She'd been walking for almost three hours, and still no signs of buildings or civilization.

"Where has dear Faerix sent me?" Naniarii sighed as she kept walking.

It was cold. Hyrule, outside of the desert, was always slightly chilly, especially near the water. But this place got colder with every step toward it... wherever it was.

What would become of her sisters once Ganondorf realized she was gone?

What would happen to Nazira? She was only 16, after all..

Naniarii tried not to get herself worked up as she kept going.. and going.. til she tripped over a large piece of wood on the ground.

"Ouch! What the.."

The Gerudo squatted over what looked like a fallen sign.

"Dracona.. two miles... two miles? That can't be right.."

Then again, the sign was broken.. misplaced.. Naniarii shrugged.

"Guess I'll just keep going.."

She picked up her pace, walking, getting tired..

And the sight of a fire caught her eye, in the distance.

"People," Naniarii gasped, walking faster. "Finally.."

The Gerudo broke into a run, desperate to just pass the city and move along to where she was unknown... at least for now..

She walked over the large hill that she'd been focused on for several minutes before, and looked down to see the source of the light.

"What..?"

This was no friendly torch or lantern. Not even a bonfire.

Dracona seemed to be under siege, its rooftops alight as maniac-like shrieks filled the air.

"What the...? Nope! Nope!" Naniarii began to turn back toward Hyrule, but almost immediately turned back toward Dracona.

Naniarii groaned as she pulled her cloak tighter and started running toward the town, hoping she could just get through it unnoticed. Stupid decision, on a limb, not smart, she thought as she raced around smoking buildings, making her way through until she saw an empty path.

Dracona's fire wasn't her business, or responsibility. She had to run. She had to keep going.

"Grab him!"

Naniarii was suddenly grabbed around the waist, and thrown to the ground.

"Thought you could escape, eh Renji?" Naniarii struggled. Renji? What?

"We saw your little red locks hanging out of your cloak, oh, master of disguise," hissed another voice, pulling Naniarii into a headlock.

"I'm not... I'm not who you're looking for, let me go!"

"Eh?" One of her captors ripped her hood off.

"A Hyrulian desert woman."

"Well, get rid of her, and keep looking for the Abarai!"

Naniarii aimed a kick into the groin of her captor, causing him to drop her. Immediately she took off running, onto the path that led toward goodness-knows-where.

"Help, please!" Naniarii winced as she heard the shrieks of the townspeople in their burning houses, but kept running. She couldn't turn back now..

Not even for these helpless civilians.. and their young children..

"Aw, fuck it!"

Naniarii turned on her heel and dashed back into the burning town of Dracona, leaping onto the windowsill of the closest bulding. She extended a hand toward the elderly woman and two young men that shook violently in their smoke filled home.

"Come, take my hand... I don't have all night!"

Without hesistation, one of the young men held the old woman with one arm, and grabbed Naniarii's hand with the other. The Gerudo, with her warrior strength, pulled the two villagers out and onto the ground. She then rescued the last man and headed toward the house across from them.

The home was half on fire, and through the embers were two small children huddled over their burnt mother.

"Damnit.."

Naniarii threw herself between the fallen logs of their home and grabbed them, despite their cries of 'mama', and pushed them toward the exit of the town.

Naniarii quickly dove into the home, to check on their mother..

Too late..

A lump formed in Naniarii's throat, despite herself, as she climbed out of the blazing home.

"Take them with you!" called Naniarii to the two young men that had escaped.

By the time Naniarii turned to help more people, a large tree from the forest nearby had caught ablaze and crushed the remaining homes.

The Gerudo screamed and took off, unable to bear it. She ran past the families she'd rescued, sprinting toward the trees ahead as the sun began to rise, brightening the flaming city even more.

Out of breath, the Gerudo gasped and fell against a tree, her hand over her chest.

She'd rest.. for now.. for a little while..Naniarii yawned. Just for a little while..

xxxx


End file.
